Sewing machine



July 7, 1936. R. T. EDWARDS 2,046,939

SEWING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 AZ Z Z .lul 7, 1936. R EDWARDS 2,046,939

SEWING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE -2,046,939 SEWING momma Russell T. Edwards, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Union Special Machine Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois I Application September 14, 1933, Serial No. 689,461

7 1 Claim. (01. 1l2258) The invention relates to new and useful improvided with an opening of sufiicient dimensions provements in sewing machines and more particularly to the means for mounting the sewing machine and the operating motor therefor.

An object of the invention is to provide a support to which the sewing machine and the operating motormay be rigidly attached, and to provide a resilient mounting for attachment of the support to the sewing machine table so that the sewing machine and the operating motor therefor may be maintained'in a fixed predetermined relation to each other, and the vibrations incident to the operation of the parts of the motor and the sewing machine absorbed by said resilient mounting. {A further object of the inventionis to provide a supporting means of the above typefor a sewing machine and its operating motor which is suspended beneath'the sewing machine table with the sewing machine extending freely through an opening in the table and positioned for stitching material passing over the table while the motor'is suspended beneath said vsup porting member, and is readily accessible for control by devices located beneath the table. v

4 These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings, which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a sewing table showinga supporting means for the sewing machine and the driving motor embodying the invention.

35 Figure 2 is a similar view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. 1

V The invention is directed to, a motor driven sewing machine and the mounting therefor.

Both the sewing machine and the motor are rigidly attached to a common supporting memher. The sewing machine is provided with the usual belt wheel, and said sewing machine is driven by a belt connection with a belt wheel associated with the motor. Inasmuch as the 45 sewing machine and themotor are both mounted and rigidly attached to the common supporting member, the two belt wheels, one of which transmits motion to the other through the driving belt, will be held in aiixed predetermined relation to each other so that there will be no possible slippage of the belt on the belt wheels. The support on which the motor and the sewing machine are mounted is attached to the sewing machinetable beneath the same; and through a 55 resilient supporting means. Any vibrations 1m:

parted by the actuating parts of either the sewing machine or the motor to the supporting member therefor will be absorbed by the resilient mountings. The supporting member, as noted, is beneath the supporting table which is so that the sewing machine mounted on the supporting member beneath the table extends above the table and is thus positioned for the stitching of material passing over the sewing ma- 5' chine table. The motor is mounted on the underside of the supporting member and as shown includes an operating countershaft which has a clutch connection to the motor shaft, and the means for controlling this clutch connection is 10 located beneath the sewing machine table where it may be readily accessible to the foot treadle or knee shift.

Referring -more in detail to the drawings, a sewing machine table of the usual character is indicated at I. This is preferably in the form of a table board. Said sewing machine table has an opening 2 therethrough. Located beneath the sewing machine table is a supporting member 3 in the form of a metal plate. The base portion 4 of the sewing machine isrigidly secured to this plate by clamping screws 5, 5. The sewing machine rests on theupperface of the plate 3 and the base portion 4 extends up through the openinglwhich is so dimensioned that the sew- 25 ing machine is free from contact with the sewing table and-rests solely on the plate 3. The sewing machine includes an overhanging arm 6 in which a needle bar carrying a needle 1 is mounted forre'ciprocation. Mounted on the base 3 portion of the machine is a cloth plate 8 and the material is held on the cloth plate by the presser foot 9. Located within the base portion is acomplemental stitching forming mechanism and a feed niechahismjso that the material to be stitchedis fed across the cloth plate beneath the pr esser foot 9. All ofthe actuating parts of the sewing machine are driven from an actuating shaft extending through the overhanging arm and on which is mounted a belt wheel 9a. 40'

by hangers, each of which includes a resilient element. These hangers are all similar in construction and the description of one will answer for the others. Each hanger includes a bolt Ill which extends through the supporting plate 3. A'nut H is threaded onto the bolt and then the bolt is inserted through an opening in the plate and a nut l2is threaded onto the bolt'beneath 'the'plate. This makes a very rigid connection betweenthe bolts and the plate 3. The bolt 'Hl extends upwardly through an opening I3 in the sewing'machine table and is provided with a head Mat?- its upper end. There is a recess l5 inthe sewing machine I table which is larger in diameter than the opening l3 and located in this recess is a resilient element which includes a yielding cylinder l6 of rubber, cork, felt or the like having an opening centrally therethrough for the bolt I0. At the lower end of the cylinder is a metal cap having an upstanding flange' adapted. to engage the said cylinder. At the upper face of the said cylinder there is a cap l8 having a depending flange. This particular type of resilient element forms no part of the present invention per se, but is shown and described in the application filed'by Charles F. Rubel, May 19, 1932, Serial No. 612,372. The caps for the resilient cylinder are so dimensioned as to be out of rigid contact with the side walls of the recess, while the lower cap engages the bottom of the recess. provides a resilient element wherein any lateral vibrations imparted to the bolt II] will be cushioned and absorbed by the resilient cylinder. Likewise, vertical vibrations or movements imparted to the bolt ,ID will be absorbed by these resilient cushioning cylinders.

As noted above, there are a series of these resilient elements supporting the plate 3 from the sewing machine table I. The plate is extended laterally of the. sewing machine, as shown in Fig. 1, and the driving motor for the sewing machine which is indicated at I9 is rigidly attached to this supporting plate 3 by clamping bolts 20, 20. The motor is an electric motor and in alignment with the shaft of the motor is a countershaft carrying a belt wheel 2|. Between the shaft of the motor and this countershaft is a clutch controlled by a lever 23. The lever 23 is pivoted at 24 to the frame of the motor and said lever at its free end isconnected to a flexible member 25 which in turn may be connected to a foot treadle or knee shift.

A transmitting belt 26 runs over the belt wheel 2| and over the belt wheel 9a. In the present embodiment of the invention, the shaft of the'motor extends ina direction longitudinally of the sewing table I, and the shaft of the sewing machine extends in a direction at an angle approximating a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the sewing machine table. One strand of the transmitting belt, therefore, runs over an idler 21 carried by a bracket 28 which is .fixed to the supporting plate 3. The countershaft bearing the belt wheel 2| is mounted in the frame of the motor and is in effect a portion of the motor. Inasmuch as the belt wheel 2| is rigidly supported through the frame of the motor from the supporting plate 3, and also the belt wheel 9a is rigidly supported through the frame of the sewing machine by this supporting plate 3, these two belt wheels will always operate at a fixed and predetermined distance from each other. When the belt is properly taut for transmitting motion from one belt wheel to the other, it will continue to do so without slippage due to vibrations disturbing this relation between the driving and driven belt wheels. Any vibrations incident to the operation of the actuated parts in the sewing machine which are imparted to the supporting plate 3 will be absorbed by these cushioning elements which suspend the plate 3. Likewise any vibrations incident to the operation of the parts of the motor or the countershaft carrying the belt wheel for operating the sewing machine will be absorbed by these resilient supporting members. Through this rigid This support for the sewing machine and the motor as a unit, and the resilient mounting of the support, vibrations incident to the operating of the parts are absorbed and at the same time these vibrations do not in any way disturb 5 the belt driving connection between the motor and the sewing machine.

. While the sewing machine is mounted on the supporting plate suspended beneath the sewing machine table, it extends through an opening in the table and is thus positioned so that the fabric passing over the table may be readily led across the cloth plate of the sewing machine beneath the presser foot for the stitching thereof. As illustrated, the cloth plate is at a distance above the upper surface of the sewing machine table and a cloth supporting tray 29 attached to the sewing machine table is so disposed relative to the cloth plate of the sewing machine that the fabric is freely directed onto and across said cloth plate. The motor being mounted beneath the supporting plate carrying the sewing machine is positioned so that the control devices therefor are readily accessible to a knee shift or treadle which necessarily is located beneath the sewing machine table.

While the sewing machine has been illustrated wherein the actuating shaft is approximately at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the motor, it will be understood that the invention 30 may be used in connection with sewing machines of other types, the essential feature residing in the rigid support of the sewing machine and the motor by the same supporting member so as to maintain a fixed predetermined position between the driving shaft of the motor unit and the driven shaft of the sewing machine unit. While the motor as shown is used in connection with the countershaft and the control clutch which together constitute a driving electric transmitter, it will be understood from certain aspects of the invention that the belt wheel may be directly connected to the shaft of the motor and the motor controlled by the current passing therethrough. It is also obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

The combination of a sewing machine having an actuating shaft, a belt wheel carried thereby,.a driving motor forsaid sewing machine, a belt wheel associated with said motor and operated thereby, a transmitting belt connecting said belt wheel of the motor with the belt-wheel of the sewing machine, a .supporting member disposed beneath said table and said opening and extending beyond the edges of the opening,

a plurality of suspending bolts attached to said supporting member and extending through said table, resilient cushioning devices through which said bolts pass for supporting said member from 5. said table, means for rigidly mounting said sewing machine on said supporting member with the machine extending freely through said opening in the table, and means for rigidly mounting said motor on the underface of said support- 7 ing member.

RUSSELL T. EDWARDS. 

